The Vampire Diaries season 4 premieres next month with episode 1, “Growing Pains,” in which Elena will transition while her friends try to figure out a way to help her. Meanwhile, they also have a new enemy to worry about.

“ELENA’S WORST NIGHTMARE Â— Elena (Nina Dobrev) awakens on the morning after the accident to find the thing she dreaded most has come true – she died with vampire blood in her system and now must go through the terrible transition to become a vampire…or face certain death. Stefan (Paul Wesley) promises Elena that he and Bonnie (Kat Graham) will exhaust every possible way out of the situation, but Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is furious with his brother for letting Elena die in the first place. Bonnie pays a terrible price for her attempt to change Elena’s fate, while Damon takes out his frustration and rage on Matt (Zach Roerig). In a rare moment of empathy, Rebekah (guest star Claire Holt) is deeply touched by Stefan and Elena’s devotion to one another. Finally, Pastor Young (guest star Michael Reilly Burke) and the Town Council members begin rounding up the vampires and their supporters, leading to an unexpected tragedy.”

It’s not like Elena has much of a decision to make in The Vampire Diaries season 4 premiere. Of course she’s going to transition, but there is a brief window of time that they’ll be using to see what they can do about the situation. There’s already a sneak peek out (below) that shows just what happens when Elena first wakes up, and another one (below) shows the brothers talking about the situation. Both clips show exactly what you’d expect, but in this episode, Elena is not going to need Stefan and Damon at each other’s throats. She’s going to need both of them to get through this, but they’re also going to have other things on their minds.

As the “Growing Pains” photos show, Bonnie is going to be working on a spell to help Elena, but those photos also show that she’ll be suffering a nosebleed, so you expect something bad to happen. But what is the “terrible price” that Bonnie will pay? How will that affect the rest of the season? Bonnie did just perform the spell that put Klaus in Tyler’s body, the aftermath of which isn’t mentioned in this episode synopsis. Will it be too draining for her to perform two big spells so close together with the witches not exactly pleased with her?

Ian Somerhalder had already teased that Matt had a “tough year” coming his way, and it’s going to begin in this episode. It’s not like it’s Matt’s fault Elena had Stefan save him first, but it was Matt who wanted to get Elena away from everything in the first place. Still, it’s not like he could have predicted that Rebekah would be on the bridge. But again, this is Damon you’re talking about. Damon’s not going to care; all he sees is that Matt’s alive and Elena died and is now becoming a vampire. At least Matt knows that he has friends to step in before Damon can do anything serious, plus Elena would never let Damon hurt Matt.

Then you have Rebekah, who is seen in one of the premiere photos with what appears to be a bloody shirt. Is she going to have a moment of regret for her actions? Will everyone have to put aside their anger towards her because of Pastor Young and the Council going after vampires? Will they have to all work together since they’re also going to be dealing with Elena’s transition? It’s already been revealed that April, Young’s daughter, comes to town in episode 2 for her father’s funeral, but is his death the “unexpected tragedy,” not because he dies but how he dies, or could the group lose another?

What do you think of the latest The Vampire Diaries season 4 premiere spoilers for episode 1 “Growing Pains”?